


Bloom with Grace

by misskittenbug (miss_universe)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Bullying, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Everyone Has Issues, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Healthy Relationships, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Hurt/Comfort, Ladrien | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Lila Rossi salt, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Mental Health Issues, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Panic Attacks, Post-Season/Series 03, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Relationship, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Strong Marinette Dupain-Cheng, eventual identity reveal, there is fluff i swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:59:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23572726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_universe/pseuds/misskittenbug
Summary: Marinette can't stand the thought of letting Paris down. She can't stand the thought of Lila winning, turning her friends against her. Sheespeciallycan't stand the thought of Hawkmoth getting what he wants. She decides to do something about it.She gets a therapist.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki
Comments: 66
Kudos: 619
Collections: Lila Anon Support Group





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> first miraculous fic! <3 i'm excited to be a part of this fandom.

**Google Search history:**

**_How not to be negative_ **

**_Positive thinking_ **

**_Coping skills_ **

**_Counseling_ **

**_Therapy_ **

**_Therapy confidentiality agreement_ **

**_Underage therapy_ **

**_Teen therapists near me_ **

* * *

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” A low, slightly rough voice rang out in the empty waiting room. Marinette stood up quickly, taking intentional slow, deep breaths. Her legs were shaking and her knuckles white from how tightly she was holding onto her purse straps, but she was determined to do this...for Paris, for her friends and family, for her partner. For herself. 

“Y-yes, hi, that - that’s me.” She stammered, finally looking at the woman. She was a younger looking adult, short with huge thin-wired glasses that took up half the room on her face. Marinette’s anxiety faded a bit when she saw the kind smile on her lips. 

“Hey there. You can come on in.” The woman said softly, holding the door open for her. Marinette licked her bottom lip nervously and walked into the pale blue room, passing a sign that read **Dionne Pascal, LPC.**

* * *

_"Maman?” Marinette called out in the bakery as she set her backpack down onto the floor, her breath coming out in unsteady pants. “I need to talk to you and Papa.”_

_Her mother gave her a quick glance as she rang up the last customer, cheerily handing him his change. “Come again soon!” She called out after him, walking around the counter and flipping their sign to closed. Once the man had left, she turned her full attention to Marinette, worry clear in her eyes. “Sure, sweetheart. Seems like it’s important.”_

_Marinette nodded wearily. “It is. Really, really important.”_

_Sabine pursed her lips and motioned for Marinette to follow her into the kitchen, calling out, “Tom, hun, can you stop for a second? Marinette needs to talk to us.” Her father looked at them both with worry, slowly nodding._

_“Go on upstairs, I’ll be done in two minutes.” He said quietly, frowning at them._

_“Okay.” Marinette said softly, turning back to grab her backpack and go upstairs. By the time she finally made it up the stairs, her father and mother were already sitting on the couch, their eyes trained on her._

_“What’s wrong Marinette?” Her father asked softly, his big hand taking hers and engulfing it. She looked down at them to avoid his worried green eyes. His fingers became blurry as she sniffled once and said shakily, “I almost got Akumatized today.”_

_Twin gasps echoed in the living room, Tom tightening his grip on his daughter’s hand._

_“Honey…” Sabine gasped, her eyes wide. “What happened?”_

_“It doesn’t matter. No, look, really, it_ doesn’t. _It was just a lot of things building up and -- it made me realize that I can’t just sit around, being scared that every time I get upset I’ll be targeted by Hawkmoth. I need to take partial responsibility. I want to make myself less of a convenient target. I...I want to go to therapy. To learn how to deal with my negative emotions before Hawkmoth can get them. And...I think it might help with some other things.” Her lips twisted as she felt hot tears wobble in the corner of her eyes._

_The only thing she heard was the rapid beating of her heart in the ensuing silence. She risked glancing up to see their reactions, sniffling and trying to hide it. They were staring at each other, seemingly having an entire conversation with their eyes alone. After a moment they turned their heads back to her, and despite herself, she shrank into her seat, shoulders hunching defensively._

_“Marinette…” Her papa started, his voice wavering slightly, “Of course you can get a therapist. And we are so, so proud of you for asking for help.” Next to him, her mother nodded, bringing her small hand on top of theirs._

_“We really are. And there’s nothing wrong with needing it.” She agreed, and Marinette couldn’t hold back anymore. She launched herself in between them, tears of relief streaming down her face._

_“Thank you…thank you...”_

* * *

Marinette followed Dionne into a pale blue room. She immediately noticed a watercolor painting of a flamingo on the wall, along with small palm tree figurines on her desk. There was a pale pink couch across from it. It wasn’t anything like what she had expected, and already some of the tension leeched off of her.  
  
“I’m guessing you like flamingos?” Marinette asked tentatively, sitting down on the couch as her skirt fanned out beside her. She dragged her hand over the wrinkles to smooth them out, frowning at it. She wanted to make a good impression on her therapist, not look like she was a mess!  
  
“Yep!” Dionne cheerfully said as she sat down by her desk. “They’re my favorite animal. Did you know there are six species of flamingo?”  
  
Marinette shook her head. “Can’t say I did.” She replied with a small giggle, taking her purse off her lap and sitting it next to her. She opened it and reached for her water bottle, sharing a quick glance with Tikki before closing it again.  
  
“You learn something new every day.” Dionne said with a grin. “So, Marinette, tell me about yourself. Don’t worry,” she added when Marinette stiffened up, “we aren’t going to go into heavy topics today. At least, not unless you want to. This is just me getting to know you, introducing ourselves to each other.”  
  
Marinette nodded. “O-okay. Well, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m fifteen years old...I go to Collège Françoise Dupont...I live upstairs from my parents bakery?”  
  
“Do you like baking things?” Dionne asked.  
  
“Yeah, but it’s not like my passion or anything. I really want to be a fashion designer.” She said, blushing.  
  
“Nice! Have you made anything?”  
  
Marinette smiled. “Yes, actually! I’ve made lots of stuff. Some for my friends, some things for a contest, and I even worked with Jagged Stone before!” Then she shrunk into herself and started tearing off the label to her water bottle. “N-not that I’m trying to brag or anything! It’s really not that big of a deal. I don’t mean to sound so show-offy.”  
  
Dionne just grinned at her, unruffled. “Hey, that’s amazing! If I had those accomplishments, I’d absolutely brag about them! Only fifteen years old and already working with rockstars. Besides, it’s not bragging to be proud of your hard work.”  
  
Marinette made a noncommittal sound and shrugged. “Maybe.”

“No maybes about it. If you work hard on something and put time and effort into, it’s okay to be proud of it. You said your parents own a bakery, right? You wouldn’t say they were bragging if they said they were popular and got a lot of customers.”

She fiddled with the cap of her water bottle and bit her bottom lip. “I guess you’re right...I didn’t really think about it like that.”

Dionne just smiled. “That’s fine. It’s different when it’s about yourself, isn’t it?”

Marinette just nodded.

“Ah, but it’s _not._ You’re still a person who has accomplished something through hard work, and it is okay to feel good about that.”

Marinette looked down thoughtfully. Maybe Dionne had a point. She wouldn’t call Alya bragging if she said that her blog was successful, or think Rose was bragging if she said she was in a good band. Why did she have such different standards for herself?

_Because you’re Ladybug._

But...Ladybug didn’t have anything to do with designing. That was Marinette. Ladybug had to have higher standards for everything. Marinette, however, could be a regular fifteen year old.

“You’re right. I - I worked hard on his album cover. And it’s okay to feel good about it.” She said hesitantly, peeking up to see Dionne’s reaction.

Her therapist grinned. “That’s right.” Marinette smiled back at her, relaxing back into the couch. “So tell me, do you and your parents get along?” She continues.

“Yep! They’re honestly the best...they’re so supportive and patient with me.”

Dionne raised an eyebrow. “Patient with you?”

Marinette nodded with a sheepish smile. “I’ve been known to be a bit anxious and dramatic at times…but they always try to support me.”

Dionne nodded thoughtfully. “I see. Maybe that’s something we can talk about at another session. How about school, do you like it?”

She shifted uncomfortably on the couch and huffed out a short little laugh. “Now that’s a complicated question.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. I’m class president, and I’m in a class with my best friend and crush, which is nice, but two of my bullies are also in the same class.” Marinette said with a resigned sigh. “I mean, one of them has gotten better, but the other one…” Her fists curled into fists. “She’s like a supervillain without a costume!” At her outburst she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

“Wow.” Dionne replied, leaning back into her chair with wide eyes. “That bad, huh?” The question would have sounded patronizing except for the way she said it, like she was actually interested in what Marinette thought.

“Yeah. Here’s how it started…”


	2. Chapter One

“And then she claimed that she had a ‘lying disease’ that made her lie uncontrollably. So I was allowed back into school, but still, it sucked! The worst part is that everyone believes her still.” Marinette ranted, her hands waving in the air as she sucked in a hasty breath. She felt the flush on her cheeks and held the cold water on it, hoping to calm down the angry red she knew was painted on her face.

Dionne blew out a long breath, leaning back into her chair with a sympathetic frown. “Woo boy, I can see why you said that was a complicated question!” 

Marinette nodded miserably. “Yeah. That’s why I came, basically. I just...I almost got akumatized because of it, and I just…” She felt tears start to build up, heat coming from her eyes. “I need help.” Embarrassingly her voice broke, and the tears started spilling from underneath her lashes. 

Suddenly a box of tissues appeared underneath her nose, and she grabbed them thankfully, scrunching them up and wiping her eyes. She absent-mindedly noted that her nail polish was chipping. 

“Well, if you want help, you’ve definitely come to the right place.” Dionne said after a moment, no judgement in her face. “And let me just say, I know how hard it is to get help, and I am very proud of you for reaching out. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” 

Marinette sniffled and blew her nose in the crumpled tissue. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, it seems to me that this Lila girl is a main stressor for you, right?” She asked, watching as Marinette nodded. “Well, unfortunately, there’s not anything you can do about her. You’ll still have to see her in your school and have mutual friends.” 

“Yeah, I know. My parents brought up transferring, but…” She trailed off.

“That felt a bit too much like giving up?” Dionne asked knowingly. Marinette nodded. “That’s okay. From what it sounds like, your friend Adrien gave you some advice and you’ve been trying to follow it, right?” 

“Y-yeah.” She confirmed. Dionne nodded thoughtfully, pushing her glasses up her nose. 

“I wouldn’t say that advice was wrong, but not necessarily right either. Her lies  _ have _ been hurting someone. They’ve hurt you. And that’s valid, Marinette. You are allowed to be upset that someone is targeting you. You are allowed to not get along with someone, and you do not have to feel guilty about that.” Dionne gave her a small smile, then continued, “Unfortunately it sounds like this will continue being a situation that will affect you. You might not be able to change Lila or her behavior, but you can change yours. It sounds to me like you’ve spent a lot of energy and investment into this girl and trying to defend your class. Is that an accurate statement, do you think?”

Marinette sighed as she thought about it.  _ The napkin incident. Jagged Stone. Volpina.  _

“Yeah, that’s right.” 

Dionne smiled sympathetically. “You can’t stop this girl from lying, Marinette. You can’t stop your classmates from believing her either, but what you  _ can _ stop is your own reactions.” 

“And let my friends be lied to?” Marinette replied with a huff. “They’re good people, and they don’t deserve that!” 

“No, they don’t. But you’re the one who is hurting right now. I’m not their therapist, I’m yours. It’s unhealthy for you to have such an emotional investment in this, Marinette. As much as it sucks, the only thing you can control in this situation is yourself. You can’t make your friends listen to you. You can’t make your teachers understand what’s going on. You can’t stop Lila from continuing to tell tall tales. What you can control, Marinette, is how you  _ react  _ to all this.”

“I should stop trying to expose her?” Marinette asked wetly, staring at the blue carpeted floor, letting her words sink in. It wasn’t as if she had been as active in it anymore, mainly because most of her classmates were so skeptical of her in the first place. 

“What do you think?” Dionne asked instead of answering. 

“Well… I think that she’s just going to keep spreading her lies. And I don’t want my friends to fall for them and be manipulated...but...I have really been upset about it too. And...that’s not fair to me. She’s really been gunning for me, and I don’t want to deal with it anymore. So...should I just ignore her? Every time I try to prove she’s lying, I end up looking like the bully.” She said slowly.

“Something to think about.” Dionne replied, reaching for a flamingo mug on her desk and taking a sip of it. “Actually, I have some homework for you before our next session.” She said as she reached down to a drawer underneath her desk and opened it.

“Homework?” Marinette asked quietly, ripping off tiny pieces of the tissue in her hand. 

“Mhmm. What’s your favorite color, Marinette?” She asked as she was rummaging through the drawer, black curls spilling off her shoulder. 

Confused but willing to play along, Marinette tentatively answered, “Uh...pink?” 

“Nice. I too enjoy a bit of pink from time to time.” Dionne said, then made a triumphant sound as she pulled out a white and pink notebook from the desk. “Gotcha. Here, Marinette. Your homework.” She handed her the notebook and a pencil with a smile. “This is yours. We’re probably going to be coming back to the things you write down in there, so try not to lose it. But for now, I’m going to explain something called positive affirmations to you. Positive affirmations are sayings that can help you counteract negative or unhelpful thoughts with positive ones. I want you to find at least one affirmation to write down every day before your next session. It’s okay if you go over or under, but I want you to try. You can look on Google if you need any help or ideas. And when Lila is bugging you, I want you to either write about it, or just say the affirmations to yourself. Does that sound good?” She asked.

Marinette thought about it for a moment, then nodded once. “Yeah, I can do that.” 

“Great!” Dionne said with a beaming smile. “Maybe that can even be number one: I am a capable young woman. Either way, this homework is pretty easy, huh?” She joked, making Marinette giggle and nod. Dionne glanced at the clock on her desk and said, “Well, looks like our session for today is up. I’ll go out and talk to your mother about scheduling something for next week, okay?”

“Yep! That sounds good.” Marinette agreed quickly, balling up all the tissue pieces in her hand and throwing them out before standing up. “Thank you Dr. Dionne!”   


Dionne laughed as she opened the door for them to leave, her heels making small clicking noises as they entered the hardwood office. “None of that stuff kid, just Dionne works fine.”

* * *

**Marinette's Positive Affirmations**

**1\. I am doing the best that I can.**

**2\. My strength is bigger than my struggles.**

**3\. I am always allowed to put myself first. That is not selfish, it is self-care.**

* * *

Marinette rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands, bright lights exploding behind her eyelids. She was trying valiantly to stay awake and pay attention, but another yawn exploded out of her before she even reopened her eyes. There had been another akuma attack at four in the morning, one that took an hour. Ironically, it was from a person that had pretty bad insomnia who decided that if they couldn’t sleep, no one could.

The only silver lining in all of it was that other people were tired too, at least the ones that lived near where the akuma attacked. Now she just had to hold on until three, something that was five minutes away. Five minutes had never seemed so long before, but she could hold out. 

Another yawn escaped her, and she tapped her pencil on her desk once, glancing out the window. It was bright and colorful outside, spring making the cherry blossom trees finally bloom. Pink petals followed the invisible swirls of the wind in an ageless dance, a pretty sight that made Marinette smile. 

Her smile disappeared soon after class, when she was putting the things away in her backpack, struggling not to growl as she overheard a conversation. 

“And Jagged said that he really wanted me to be in his music video, but my mom said absolutely not! Who knows if I could get stalked by people who want to attack those closest to him? Especially since I’m close with Prince Ali.” Lila’s voice rang throughout the classroom. 

“Wow, I didn’t even think about that Lila!” Rose said softly, her blue eyes wide. “That sounds so scary!” Juleka mumbled her agreement next to her as they crowded around Lila’s seat.

“Oh yes!” Lila said with a shudder, her eyes gleaming with malice as she shot a quick smug glance at Marinette through long lashes. “Did I ever tell you about the one time I thought I had a secret admirer? It turned out someone had started stalking me! Oh, it was so scary! That’s why we had to move from the States, you know. The stalker turned out to be a kid from someone high up in the White House, so we had to leave because they wouldn’t get punished.” Lila stuck out her bottom lip and said with a quiver, “Sometimes I’m still so scared that they’ll come after me again!”

“Hey, if a stalker ever comes after you, I’ll tackle ‘em so hard, they won’t know what hit ‘em!” Kim said with a cheer, rolling up his shirt sleeve and flexing. 

Alix rolled her eyes and good-naturedly shoved him to the side. “Not if I do it first!” 

“Oh, that’s _so_ sweet of you guys...you all are such good friends!” Lila said, making Marinette roll her eyes as she slipped out of the classroom unnoticed. 

“An American stalker, huh?” Marinette muttered to herself as she walked down the halls to her locker. “What next? A personal invitation to England from the Queen herself?” 

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point.” A voice came from behind her locker, making her squeal in alarm and jump into the air, accidentally slamming one of her purse straps in the locker door, making it dangle off the side.

“A-A-Adrien!” She managed to stammer out, blushing furiously. “I-I didn’t even you hear! I mean hear you!” 

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, but his green eyes had a shimmer of amusement in them. “Ah, sorry! I just got a little bit irritated by her tales about her ‘stalker.’ I’ve actually had stalkers, and they’re nothing to lie about. Thought instead of listening to her, maybe we could hangout for a little until the Gorilla gets here?” He asked with a small smile.

Marinette nodded twice, the nerves in her stomach twisting themselves into a knot. “That - that sucks that you have to deal with that, Adrien.” She said, vaguely proud of herself for not stammering. She opened her locker door again and gently tugged her purse out, patting it once on the side apologetically before swinging it back over her arm.

“I just...I don’t understand why she would lie about that.” He said, a hint of frustration in his voice. “It’s not fun, or interesting. It’s flat out scary.” 

Marinette gave him a sympathetic grimace, shrugging her shoulders as she looked down at her feet. “I think...she’s lying about this in particular so that everyone will be even more protective of her. By making herself out to be a victim, she can prey on their protective natures.” She said slowly, the pieces to the puzzle clicking together as the words fell out of her mouth. 

Adrien nodded slowly. “That...makes sense. You’re really smart, Marinette.” He said softly, smiling at her. 

Once, that smile would have made her entire day, let alone the fact that she was able to hold an entire conversation with him. Now, though, things were different. She definitely still felt her heart race and shiny sparks in her stomach, but it was tempered with the fact that she had given him up. He wasn’t hers to give up, actually, but she had decided to cut out romance in her life - at least for now. So the feelings were still there, but knowing nothing could or would be done about them made them easier to ignore. 

“Thanks.” She replied, chewing on the inside of her cheek as they started walking outside together. “It just...sucks to see everyone being manipulated by her. But...it’s not my job to fix that. I tried once and look at where it got me. So this might sound mean, but I’m done getting involved at this point.” 

Adrien’s steps slowed next to her, and she could feel his eyes on her back. 

“Marinette,” He started to say, but was cut off by Alya and Nino appearing next to them, bright smiles on their faces.

“Hey!” 

“Yo, what’s up dudes?” 

Marinette allowed herself to be dragged into conversation with them, ignoring the feeling of green eyes on her. She didn’t want to talk to Adrien about it. She didn’t want to talk about it at all.

Because even though she was following Dionne’s advice, something inside of her was red-hot with shame and embarrassment. _They didn’t even listen to you. They didn’t even hear you out._ _Doesn’t she deserve to be exposed? Doesn’t it hurt that everyone is hanging onto her every word?_ The words kept swirling in the back of her mind, and she wasn’t ready to open up about it, wasn’t quite ready to deal with her frustration and shame. 

She had to get over it, and if not get over it, not allow it to have so much power over her anymore. So she took a deep breath, ignored Adrien’s questioning glance and jumped back into the conversation with Alya about what video game soundtrack was better. 

Marinette took in a breath of the fresh air and smiled to herself as she listened to her friends chatter, occasionally adding in a few comments. Today, as tired as she was, wasn’t horrible. She wasn’t quite happy, but there didn’t feel like there was a raging storm inside of her chest either. 

Before, she had been so focused on trying to expose Lila that she was constantly on edge. Now that she was minding her own business, ignoring the Italian girls voice, she didn’t feel so on guard.

“What do you think babe, wanna hangout today?” Alya asked her, wrenching her from her thoughts as the girl playfully bumped into her. Marinette smiled and nodded in response, resolving to have fun with her best friend without any drama getting in the way. Alya grinned back at her and linked their arms together, waving the boys a quick goodbye as they started walking to the bakery. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up, gals being pals. bros being bros. kitties being kitties. absolutely no angst. why are you looking at me like that?

**Author's Note:**

> please leave comments/kudos below! <3


End file.
